Career anchors: distribution and impact on job satisfaction, the Israeli case

The purpose of this paper is to examine the career anchor concept developed by Edgar Schein.

The paper focuses on the distribution of the eight career anchors, on a large heterogeneous sample and the differences in the distribution by gender and type of employment; and the impact of the congruence on job satisfaction between a person's career anchor and his job setting. The sample consists of 1,847 Israeli men and women who completed Schein's Career Anchor Inventory questionnaire. They also provided biographical data and indicated their level of job satisfaction. A new measure is developed and validated to assess the congruence between a person's career anchor and his job.

The most prevalent career anchor in the sample is lifestyle with the technical/functional anchor, second. Major differences were found between the self‐employed and salaried workers in four anchors. Significant differences between men and women are found in all but two career anchors: technical/functional and security. Finally, the study supports the hypothesis that congruence between a person's job and his career anchor has a positive impact on his job satisfaction.

The study furthers existing research on career anchors by using a large heterogeneous sample and offering a new measure of “congruence” between a person's job and his career anchor.